From the Embers
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: Corso Riggs recalls the events of Balmorra, the bad and the good, and ponders his relationship with Captain Zavvi. More character development than anything else, containing Smuggler spoilers for Chapter 1 and 2.


_The Skylark_

Corso grunted as he felt the last of the pain stab at him before the kolto silenced it for good. Their mission on Balmorra had been tough, tougher than he'd expected. For one, he hadn't expected the state of the planet when they got there.  
For all he (and the captain, come to think of it) knew of the place, the Empire had taken it over when the Treaty of Coruscant had forced the Republic to withdraw its forces, and they'd promptly oppressed it, though resistance had broken out against them. Now, with the Treaty void, the Republic was doing its darnedest to shove the Empire clear of the world. But neither he nor Zavvi had expected the devastation that had greeted them.

Zavvi had been the most rattled of them both; Corso had the experience of battlefields he'd seen during his time with the Peace Brigade so he was less affected, but even so, it had given them both pause. It'd made Ord Mantell look like a merely over-zealous riot. The planet was ripped, torn, blasted so badly that even the brown rocks had turned to black. Pipes carrying toxic industrial waste were sheared open, their poisonous payload creating glowing pools where nothing could grow except the twisted colicoids that were maddened and hunted any who dared get too close to their lairs. Nature clung stubbornly to the few hillocks where the bombs hadn't fallen and warped it into wasteland, though most shrubs and trees had shrapnel wounds and some were poisoned and slowly withering away into a crumpled heap.

He'd watched her sudden hesitation when they stepped out from the shuttle, the shock on her features before it quickly darted back into her armour and she displayed her usual tough persona, not displaying a shred of weakness. But it had showed in other ways that others couldn't see, but Corso could, knowing her for as long as he had. The way she'd surveyed their surroundings, how she talked to the resistance and the Republic soldiers and how she fought against the Imperials. There was a sadness to her, a pity for those who had lost everything here, a respect to the strength the resistance showed and a deep, fiery anger at the Imperials who'd wrecked the planet. He was only too happy to help the resistance and help crush the Imperials, and occasionally forgot they were on the planet for a different reason other than trying to help liberate the place. Though he usually was cautious about her dark anger, especially against people who'd wronged her, Corso had noticed her anger, though still as vengeful and dangerous as it ever was, was starting to break more easily than before. He was pleased to see it was abating somewhat, even if it would never disappear for good, though he did wonder how and why it was changing. He couldn't think of anything that had changed recently to cause it, but didn't really worry about it.

However, the only part of Balmorra that both he and Zavvi properly disliked and really wished the Empire had levelled was Bugtown. It was so called because it was a little island which apparently had a giant laboratory which was experimenting on the colicoids for something or other, and then something terrible had happened and now they'd taken over the island. Or most of it, as for some reason the Republic had thought it had been the ideal spot to plant their base of operations. No wonder the Imperials hadn't really bothered them; they probably thought they'd get eaten by the colicoids at some point, and that wasn't too far from the reality. They were basically Balmorra's version of rakghouls, minus the plague. They seemed to have no end, and all of them possessed ravenous appetites, bad manners and a very bad habit of swarming. It wasn't unusual that large groups of colicoids would attack them, sometimes attracting even more to them!

Needless to say, the smuggler and mercenary had abandoned all thoughts of fighting the giant bugs conventionally, and instead resigned themselves to throwing copious amounts of fragmentation and incendiary grenades at them, which seemed to do the trick, though one pack had gone mad and decided to devour one another. They'd been a little shocked at the sight, but then decided that hey, at least they're not eating us, and put as much distance between them and the colicoids as possible. It was at that time that Zavvi decided enough was enough and refused to take any more missions to thin the colicoid numbers out, because she didn't want them to die as bug food.

Thinking more of the Republic base, Corso couldn't help but frown as he thought of their contact. Numen Brock, a male Twi'lek resistance fighter plus some shady type, who was immediately interested in the captain, much to the mercenary's chagrin. He had been hoping that she'd shut him down straight away, but no such luck; she'd began flirting with him and it had made the Mantellian fairly unwell, contenting himself on making rude comments in between in an attempt to hamstring it, which unfortunately didn't work.

Needless to say, he hadn't been too amused by it all, and eventually the smuggler had confronted him about it as they were travelling in the shuttle back to the mainland...

* * *

_Balmorra_

"You don't like Brock, do you?" Zavvi asked, eying the mercenary as he fiddled with his rifle, checking the power cell for its level of charge. He tensed slightly as she mentioned the older Twi'lek's name, feeling his spine prickle.  
"I don't." He admitted tersely. "He ain't interested in you. He's just interested in making another notch in his bedpost." Zavvi rolled her eyes.  
"You think I don't know that? I'm doing the same thing I'm doing for Darmas; it's a game. Using my sex as an advantage; if all they want is to just roll in the hay with me, I might as well use it to get the stuff I want out of them." She noticed his shoulders visibly tense, and he stopped what he was doing.  
"You're going to-" She quickly cut him off.  
"No! No, I'm not going to do that." She said, folding her arms. "Besides, I thought we went over this after you caught me with Darmas."  
"That was with Darmas, who you said was too old for you." Corso pointed out. "Numen, though, is more our age. And he ain't a holo." He returned to checking the power cell.  
There was a pause between them, only the rumbling of the shuttle sublight engines muting the silence.

"Look, Captain..." Corso began. "I understand why you're doin' it. It's like gettin' someone drunk, so it's easy to get stuff outta them. But..." He sighed. "But it's so easy for you. You're beautiful, you know what you're doing, and you have 'em around your finger in minutes. Me, I...I'm just a farm boy from Ord Mantell. I couldn't play that game even if I wanted to. I mean, you're so good you fool even me. Or, at least, I hope you're fooling." He looked at his boots, scuffing the metal floor with the front of his foot. "'Cos I can't tell if you're serious or not when you're talking to 'em. You could easily go off with any of them as easy as that. And..." He hesitated. "I don't know if you could do the same to me. I wouldn't know if you're...If you don't mean it. For all I know, you're stringing me along 'til you find someone better, someone who can play the same games you can as well as you and then you can go off with him...And it hurts to think that all this stuff we did together might be for nothing..."

He didn't have to look at her to see her tense- no, it was a flinch, as if he'd struck her square in the chest, and he felt his heart hurt to feel her pain. The silence fell between them like an abyss, and he wondered if he'd said something wrong. If somehow instead of making his thoughts known, he'd just driven a lightsaber through his chest, and possibly hers as well. Memories of Tatooine rose unbidden in his mind and he had to bite his lip hard to stop the tears.

"I didn't mean..." He lifted his head. She was staring into the middle distance, eyes wide and so full of hurt Corso felt like he should rip his tongue from his mouth. She looked at him then. "Do you...do you really think that?" Her voice was soft and Corso barely heard her over the engines. "Do you think I don't care for you?" What scared the mercenary was that it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"I...I hope you do." He replied. "Because I care a lot for you." Part of him yelled at him; _just say it, tell her you love her! _But he couldn't. Somehow his brain had forgotten to connect to his mouth, or it just wasn't taking the message.

She hugged herself, squeezing her eyes shut. Such displays of blatant weakness were reserved only for Corso, yet he was still debating whether it was an honour or not. He noticed her lekku twitch, looking like they were trying to wrap around her as well, though they failed rather noticably.

"I do...I do care about you, Corso." She said, in that wavery tone ladies had before they burst into tears which never failed to pull his heartstrings. "I...I only flirt with the other guys because...because..." A hesitation so loud that he strained to hear, and just caught her words. "I don't know."

He blinked, confused. Didn't she just say that she flirted with other guys for advantages? He opened his mouth to speak, but she spoke first.

"They're...I don't...I feel nothing for them. I did it because I can, because...No-one was getting hurt. It didn't matter. It was just something...You could walk away and nothing would be any different." Her eyes opened again, somehow dry. "But it is different. I could easily not do it, you know? I just..." Her head drooped, staring at the floor. "I didn't mean..." Her fingers laced together and clenched, her strength flaring. "They are nothing to me, Corso. I'll be damned if I let them get anywhere close to my heart. I'll be damned to the Void if I'll forsake a man as good as you for, for one of them." A pause. "I'm so sorry, Corso. I didn't mean to worry you. I would never lead someone on, thinking that they care me when I don't feel the same to them. It's wrong. I only did it to those like Brock and Lenn because they're just after...you know."

"But you're not. You like me despite what I am, what happened to me, what I've done to people. You've always got my back, and I trust you with my life." She said, meeting his eyes. "I feel for you. Anything I say to you, I mean it. What I say to any other guy, I don't. I don't care for Brock. A guy like that can easily move on, find another woman to charm into his bed. Why would I push away a guy who knows me, likes me as me, not because I've got tits and an arse, but because of who I am, for someone who's likely gonna be moved on to the next woman a couple of weeks later." Gently, tentatively, their hands met. "My body has been broken many times. My mind has been damaged; I have a void in my head that will never go away, always there, always mocking me, twisting me. The only things left intact are my heart and soul. I don't want to be hurt anymore."

In one easy push, Corso scooted over to her, letting go of her hand only to wrap his arm around her, holding her close.

"I promise I'll never hurt you, Zavvi." The Mantellian whispered. "I won't hurt your body, I won't hurt your mind, and I will never, ever break your heart."

"And my soul?" She asked. A small smile.

"No. That will be just fine." He murmured. "I can't think of anything stronger than that."

When she smiled then, his heart missed a beat.

* * *

"Master Numen, Master Numen! The captain has returned!" The droid they knew as Sixer called to the yellow coloured Twi'lek, who looked at Zavvi in such a way that Corso ground his teeth together, jealousy bleeding into his veins despite their talk on the shuttle earlier. Oh well, at least he could play his role and not raise Numen's suspicions.

"Are you sure you're not Balmorran, Captain?" Numen began with a confident smile. "I can't name one person who's done so much for the resistance. The Imperials are going nuts about losing the Nebula shipment – I didn't think the Emperor let them use that kind of language!"

Corso rolled his eyes. _Here we go._

"What can I say?" The smuggler giggled, also playing her part. "Sometimes a girl just needs bigger ordnance." She winked at Corso, just in the corner of his eyes, and he couldn't help but blush.

"We've got an old saying here on Balmorra," the male Twi'lek grinned, "'it's not the size of the missile, but how it hits the target.'" Corso snorted with amusement, and Numen briefly glared at the mercenary. _Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, pal._ Riggs thought, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

He noticed Zavvi's lekku and the corner of her lips twitch as well, though Numen cleared his throat to try and get back on track.

"Anyway, I hope the Republic is willing to sell some of it back to us; we need those prototypes." He sighed.

Zavvi and Corso glanced at each other, sharing a knowing look. Well, they should have given the prototypes to the Republic, but the captain had hit upon the brilliant idea that the prototypes could go to the Republic...for a price. She had decided to send them to Port Nowhere, on the instructions to sell them to the Republic and give her a cut as they did. She figured that no-one was getting hurt or losing very much; the Republic would still get its prototypes, just at a bit of a price. Oh, and a few would be missing, courtesy of the farm boy. He wasn't going to let some Balmorran prototype weapons slide out from under his nose without at least giving them a good once over. Zavvi had giving him the ultimatum of only keeping one of weapons, but she'd not specifically mentioned about how many parts of the weapons he could keep...

"Tell me, Brock, what would you give me if I got you your prototypes?" Zavvi asked, a wolfish grin on her face that didn't meet her eyes. Numen laughed, and Corso dug his fingers into his palm to resist from saying anything.

"I should've known you wouldn't tamely hand over that kind of payload!" He smirked, putting Corso immediately on edge. "You can send me the price later. Right now, let's talk about your finder's fee." He stepped forward. "Maybe back at my place?"

"Ah, no, no. " Zavvi said, shaking her head. "I really should get back to my ship. We've other jobs to run, and such." A ghost of frown flickered across Brock's face, but he didn't seem to let it bother him.

"Aw come on, Captain. I'm sure the Republic could wait for us..." He took another step towards her, and made to touch her.

Bad mistake. Corso seized his arm, his grip a warning one that dared the Twi'lek to tangle with him.

"Hey, didn't you hear what she said?" The mercenary growled. "She said no." Numen tugged his arm free, glaring at him.

"Are you two involved? I didn't notice." The jab was subtle but enough to make the young man bristle, but what made his hackles stand on end was Numen's next comment, said to Zavvi. "Come on, Captain, let's ditch your escort and let's see if you've got any more tattoos under there..." He said, gesturing to her clothing.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Corso snapped, stepping between them. "Show some respect!" But he sensed his Captain wanted to inject her own comment to this and so shifted to the side to let her through. And boy, she was not happy!

"Whether we are involved or not is none of your damn business!" She snarled. "But do I need to remind you that no means 'no, I don't want to go back to your place and sleep with you'? Did your mother never teach you how to treat a woman?" Her light green eyes were sharp as crystal. "I might have been tempted before, but now, I can't wait to see the back of you. I will not tolerate a man who not only wilfully ignores when a woman says no, but also one who has the temerity to belittle my partner to little more than an escort. I can trust Corso here with my life and dignity; what can you say to beat that? Nothing, that's what!"

Corso had to begrudgingly give Numen credit for not looking very rattled after Zavvi's tirade, though the mercenary could see just through the look in his eyes that he certainly had not been expecting that.

"Aw, you, you break my heart, Captain." He said, trying to be glib but failing, with his tail clearly between his legs. "But it's nothing a little solder won't fix." He gave Corso a look, the mercenary returning a glare. "Goodbye Captain."

"Let's go, Riggs." Zavvi said, pretending Numen didn't even exist anymore, turning on her heel elegantly with a slight crook to her hand in the barest hint of a beckon.

"Lead on." He said, glancing at Brock with a smirk on his lips.

* * *

_Onboard the Skylark_

Corso could help but smile slightly at the memory, despite disliking Brock. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride whenever some wannabe suitor put their foot in their mouths and triggered the captain to come down on them like a ton of plasteel girders, flattening their chances in one smooth blow.

He checked his new arm wound he'd received from Balmorra. It was still a fierce red, but didn't look too bad now, and it certainly didn't hurt anymore. As with all armour, there were gaps amongst the protection, and the bounty hunters that had been chasing them knew this only too well. However, their dreams of the riches they'd receive from their prey were not to be; Zavvi and Corso were always wary for bounty hunters to attack them, chasing them from Ord Mantell to Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa and Alderaan, even Port Nowhere wasn't safe from Rogun the Butcher's vengeful streak. Credit to his Captain, she had only cracked once in the aftermath of such an attack, on Coruscant. He shook his head as the memories flickered in his mind's eye, pushing them aside. Not now.

He wrung his dreadlocks to get the last of the water from them, glad to wash the smell of smoke, blood, sweat and chemicals from himself that he seemed to get himself covered in each time they went to a planet. One day, he'd just like to come back as he'd gone out, just once. Risha had once complained that he and the captain kept hogging the shower, but Zavvi had told her she could go out on a mission and see how she liked it. Corso grinned as he remembered the captain roping the princess into a mission all her own, and how she had begrudgingly agreed that okay, a shower was nice after something like that.

Corso had made a habit of getting dressed in the refresher, to save himself the embarrassment if one of the women walked in on him (the thought of Zavvi made him pause briefly before he quickly shoved it aside with a large blush). That reminded him of the new person they'd picked up; the Mandalorian Akaavi Spar. She'd made it clear so was only staying until she found a better opportunity, but Zavvi had taken it all in good stead and let it be. He had been rather impressed at how his captain didn't seem to mind her ways and seemed to even have respect for her. He figured it was just as well; Akaavi could have easily tried to take them in for the bounty that was offered for them (in fact, he was puzzled as to why she hadn't), and both the mercenary and the smuggler were under no illusions that fighting a Mandalorian was a good way to get yourself killed.

Corso had decided he'd be nice to her, but try to stay out of her way and not annoy her; it wasn't like she was going to view him with any respect, so he figured not antagonising her was a good idea. She'd seemed to be rather taken with Bowdaar, and when he and Zavvi had gotten back to the ship, they had been talking together. Risha wasn't pleased that Akaavi would be sharing the bunk with her, but Zavvi said if she was that unhappy about it, she could sleep in the med bay, which did wonders to shut her up.

He made his way back to the crew quarters, nodding a greeting to Bowdaar as he passed. He saw that Akaavi was in the quarters, and tried to keep from drawing attention to himself. However, he felt her eyes on his back, and when he was about to leave, she spoke.

"Why does your captain choose you? The wookie is much better warrior than you." Corso felt his skin prickle at her disdain.

"Not everything is about fighting." He replied. "The captain prefers to go the gentle route. Save her energy for fights she can't escape from."

"That does not explain why you go with her."

"Because she asks me to, and we've been a team a long while now." Corso bristled. "She's not the person who likes to be told what to do, and I've learnt that the hard way." He glared at her, fear that she might batter him briefly gone. "I know you probably think she's weak, but to me she's the strongest woman I know and have ever known, and nothing you say will change that for me."

The Zabrak's green eyes didn't show a hint of emotion, but his answer seemed to satisfy her, her pinning eyes releasing him and allowing him to leave, though he forced himself to walk slowly, though he wanted to be void of company in a fairly short order.

Corso headed for the gallery, searching the healthily stocked liquor cabinet for what he wanted. He'd quickly discovered that they'd never reach the back of the cabinet due to the fact new stuff was brought in long before they even got to the final row of bottles, so had hidden it there, safe in knowledge no-one reached in that far. Gingerly, he pulled out a greenish bottle with a square bottom, its label faded with age, making sure not to make too much noise and alert anyone to what he was doing. Now if he could just close these doors and-

"Didn't know you drank wine, farm boy."

"AGH!" Corso exclaimed, spinning to give the smirking woman one hell of a glare. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He snapped.

"Well, if you weren't trying to pretend you're being sneaky, you wouldn't be so miffed when you're spotted." Risha grinned at him. "Also, you didn't answer my question."

"It's not any of your business." He said gruffly. Risha snickered.

"Actually it is, because nobody changes their drinking habits in a flash. Especially when someone like you switch from drinking lager to wine. That's a leap that raises eyebrows and makes people wonder what's going on." Risha replied simply. "Are you and the Captain celebrating anything?"

Corso tensed.

"I didn't mention the Captain."

"I refuse to believe a farm hand like you drinks wine for pleasure." The mechanic raised an eyebrow. "Especially a vintage as rare as that."

Corso shifted uncomfortably, looking away from her.

"I took it from my boss." He admitted. "He was always a guy who loved the finer pleasures in life, and after he was killed...well, I figured I'd take something to remind me of him."

Risha nodded, and then softened.

"Corso, you don't do things without a reason. I guess you wanted tonight to be special." He eyed her suspiciously, and she raised her hands up in surrender. "Look, I don't know what you want to do, but I assume it involves Zavvi. You two are obviously close, you can't deny that. I mean, you two went out in Nar Shaddaa together with no armour on." She tried not to grin.

"Yeah...But what's your point?" He asked, still not trusting her.

"Well, I was going to say..." She hesitated. "You've known Zavvi for longer than I have. But from what I know of her, she's actually quite nice. Nicer than some other business partners I know of. I guess what I'm trying to say is; relax, you two like each other, and unless you do something remarkably stupid like, I dunno, trying to hit on her sister, I think everything will be fine for you two."

Corso was tempted to pinch himself. Was this Risha was talking the same Risha who was the haughty princess of Dubrillion, and who spent most of her time looking down her nose at him? Were they really the same?

"Wow, Risha," he commented, "didn't know you had a soft side." He grinned as she scowled slightly, the old facade coming back up in short order.

"I'm only telling you this because it's going to be extremely awkward if you two fall out, that's all." She said, marching from the gallery, the mercenary rolling his eyes in her wake. Women were so strange sometimes.

He pondered her words for a few moments, trying to understand them and sort of managing it, though he wasn't sure he'd got the meaning down pat. He shrugged. Oh well, it hardly mattered. Not now, anyway.

The Mantellian figured that the Twi'lek would be on the bridge of the ship, making sure it would be alright when everyone else retired for the night. He had to give it to her; her skills in programming had allowed the ship almost a mind of its own, to the point where it could be left to its devices for a quite some time without needing to check on it, though after Skavak stole the _Skylark_ Zavvi always made sure there was at least one person to look after the place; even SeeTwo was given instructions that in the event someone boarded the ship that she hadn't allowed, he was to call her comm immediately and lock the whole thing down.

Dismissing the thought, he made his way to the corner that led up to the bridge, smiling as he glimpsed the Captain's form leaning against her chair. Corso took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and made his way to her...

* * *

**Author's note: **Ahahahaa! I'm afraid to tell you this cliffhanger won't be continued here, but have another story all to itself. Why? That's a surpise. A nice surpise, I hope. But a surprise nonetheless. This was mostly a test of writing third person, focused on one character this time instead of moving from character to character like I usually do.

Think of this as character development! She says as all her readers try to lynch her for the cliffhanger. XD Oh well.

Though I haven't been mentioning it, I might like to point out I don't own any of these characters (I don't know about Zavvi, I might own her but I don't know), and that BioWare and Lucasarts/Disney do. I'm just using them for my own ends.


End file.
